Crown-block.



F. S. BARKELEW.

GROWN BLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1909.

Patented May 3, 1910.

W, ll"l""lll L MM UNITED v S PATENTOFFICE;

- JFBANKS. BA BKELEW, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

' cnown-nnocx.

To all whom it may concern: *Be it known that I, FRANK S. BARKELEW,

.a citizen of the United States, residing at of which the following is aspecification.

This inventionrelates to a crown block particularly adapted for welldrilling purposes, the present form having been designed to meet thepeculiar requirements met in the drillin of extremely deep oil wells.

' In deep Well rilling the weight of the casing and tools becomeexcessively great and a ver strong block is consequently required for pacement on the top of the derrick. It has beenthe usual practice toemploy a block made up of wooden beams of rectangular cross sectionplaced parallel to each other and spaced apart, the sheave being mountedon the beams and lying between them. Various forms and configuration ofblocks have been used and the sheaves have also been variously arrangedthereon.

'In the usual form of crown block the sheaves are so arranged that thecasing hoisting lines do not pull directly above the hole, but to oneside of it. This diagonal pull strains the derrick more than a straightvertical pull and is the cause of a large number of derrick failures. 0

It is the prime object of. the present invention to provide a blockwhich may be constructed of steel forms with the sheaves arranged insuch positions that any desired number of lines may be put up and alwayspull directly over the hole. It is also an object to construct the blockin a simple manner and with such a mode of assembly that it may beeasily taken apart for transportation.

In the accompanyin drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of t e block,showing the passage of the various lines over the sheaves. Fig. 2 is aplan view with parts in section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is across section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

The main frame of the block is made up of two inside I-beams 5 and twooutside I-beams'6. The inner beams are held parallel to each other andspaced apart by bolts 7 and spacers 8 at one end and by center spacer '9and bolt 9 at the other end. Bolt 9 passes entirely through all fourbeams, carrying three spacers 9" between the four beams. Bolts 10 andspacers 11 also hold Specification of Letters Patent. Application filedNovember 8, 1909. Serial No. 526,755,

' line.

' Patented May 3, 1910.

theouter beams inposition. as illustrated, the space between the innerand outer beams being preferably greater than the space between the two1nner beams. The outer beams are shorter than the inner beams, bemgdeslgned to rest centrally upon the crown of the derrick while the innerbeams overhang the crown at the right hand end in the drawings.Extending across the top of the beams and placed centrally on the shortouter beams is a shaft 12. This shaft is secured to the beams by meansof yoke bolts 13, the whole construction being such that an addedrigidity is imparted to the whole block.

Journaled on shaft 12 are casing sheaves 14. In the present constructionthere are two sheaves in each of the spaces between the outer and innerbeams. These sheaves are designed to support casing line 15 which ispassed over them successively as many times as is desired to double theline. The casing line passes throu h a hoisting block hanging in thederrick eloiv, one end of the line usually being secured to the blockwhile the other end passes to the hoisting niachinery. Shaft 12 isplaced directly over the well being drilled and the line is passedsuccessively over sheaves 14 on op osite sides of the crown block sothat the hoisting block hangs centrally under the crown block. This oneof the great advantages of the present invention, the pull on thederrick and the' casing being truly vertical and the resultant line ofstress being coincident with the center line of the casln and thederrick.

J ournaled in bearings 16 are two sheaves 17 and 18, these sheaves beingfor the drilling line 19 and the sand line 20 respectively. Sheaves 17and 18 are situated between inner beams 5, sheaves 17 being as close toshaft 12 as is convenient. This is for the purpose of having thedrilling line also hang as nearly centrally as possible over the well.Sheave 18 may be slightly farther from shaft 12 than sheave 17 as sandline 20 passes out of the derrick on the outside while drilling line 19passes inside of the derrick. Its position, however, depends upon thesize of the derrick crown, but it is not so detrimental to efli- 'cientworking to have it situated at somedistance from shaft 12 as it is tohave sheave 17 so situated, the pull upon the sand l ne being much lessthan that upon the drill ng It will be seen that the gist of theinvenwhich may be detacha l tion is contained; in the peculiararrangement of the sheaves u on a set of beams secured together to forma rigid frame. e above description is of the present preferred form ofthe block. Other methods and means'of securing the beams together andfor mounting the sheaves thereon may be used. The particular points ofconstruction may be varied to suit the needs of an case in question, itbeing sufiicient that t e sheaves be arranged in such a manner as isabove described and the beams assembled with the facilities fordismemberment and transportation noted.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. A b ock, comprising a framemade up of four beams arranged parallel to each other, means to connectthe beams together and hold them from each other, a transverse shaftmounted on the beams and extending across the upper parts thereof, asheave mounted on the shaft in each of the spaces adjacent the outermostbeams, and a sheave mounted on the beams on each side of the transverseshaft, the last named sheaves being between the two inner beams.

2. A block, comprising a frame made up of four beams arranged parallelto each other, means to rigidly connect the beams together and hold themspaced from each other, a transverse shaft extending across the tops ofthe beams, means to secure the shaft to the beams, a plurality ofsheaves mounted on the shaft in each of the spaces adj acent theoutermost beamsjpand a sheave mounted on the beams at each side of thetransverse shaft, the last named sheaves be: ing between the inner twobeams and having their axes parallel to the shaft.

3. A block, comprisin a frame made u of four beams arrange d parallel toeac other, means to hold the beams inspaced relation to each other, ashaft secured across the beams and crossing the three spaces betweenthem, a sheave mounted on the shaft in each of the spaces adjacent theouter beams, and a pair of sheaves mounted on the center. beams andlyin' between the center beams one on each-'si e of the transverseshaft.

4. A block, comprising a frame made u of four beams arranged parallel toeac other, means to hold the beams in spaced relation to each other, ashaft secured-across the beams and crossing the three spacesbetweenthem, a plurality of sheaves mounted on the shaft in each of thespaces adjacent the outer beams, and a pan of sheaves mounted on thecenter beams and lying between the center beams one on each side of thetransverse shaft.

In witness that I. claim the foregoing I

